Smith In Florida-georgia Bass Trials

Osceola sports - FISHING

Work Resumes On Canal

The regular and faithful readers know that once or twice a year Nancy Smith, my wife, takes time off for vacation - translation: fishing out-of-town tournaments. Well, it's that time again.

Nancy and her partner, Laura Cain, are fishing the Florida-Georgia Bass Trails annual classic at Lake Seminole in Georgia. Preliminary reports are that fishing is terrible there, so we ask that all of you keep your fingers crossed for them and hope they do well.

Earlier in this column, we reported on the Lake Kissimmee draw down, and the delay in closing off the canal between Lakes Kissimmee and Hatchineha because of unusual and unexpected rainfall on the upper end of the chain.

Well, they have finally lowered the water up here enough to resume the work in the canal. By the end of this week, the temporary dam in the canal just south of the entrances to Camp Mack and Camp Lester will be half way across the waterway. By the end of the next week, they expect to have it completed, and the canal will be totally blocked. The actual draw down of Lake Kissimmee will then go pretty much on the original schedule.

On November 1, they will begin gradually drawing water from the Lake until it reaches approximately 45 feet elevation, which is about 5 feet lower than its present level. If all goes well, that level should be reached about March 1, 1996. The restoration project itself will then begin. We will keep you posted on that.

The Lake Kissimmee Restoration Project is an inter-agency endeavor, which is the way Government ought to operate. One of the important aspects of this joint effort is to keep public access to the Lake during the extreme draw down. Using harvesters and tow boats, the South Water Management District is clearing out the vegetation to create a ''flow way'' upstream of the control structure at Highway 60. This will facilitate the movement of water out of the Lake and provide a cleared area for boats.

They are also using an interesting piece of equipment called an aqua-mog that is digging the navigational channel to ensure continued boat access from the public boat ramp at Highway 60. This will also give additional capacity to move water to achieve the extreme draw down level.

For those who fish and frog in the Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, the Game and Fish Commission has revoked requirements that you must purchase management area stamps to use the area.

The Wednesday night tournament out of Big Toho Marina is still producing decent catches even with the shorter time limit. Last Wednesday, Jim Williams and his partner, Neil, took the first-place money with 11.10 pounds. Second place was captured by Robbie and Gwen Robinson with 9.8 pounds. Bud Bass and Jack Puffenbarger doubled up on their winnings by finishing third with 9.0 pounds and bringing in the big bass weighing 7.10 pounds . . .

Shingle Creek has been running this week due to the heavy rains in Orange County. This will probably continue through this week end. Both bass and specks are being caught in this running water . . .

Specks generally have really picked up all over Lake Toho. Good catches are being reported every day now by using minnows in open water. Blue gills and other pan fish are still good using crickets. The most constant reports of good catches are coming from the mouth of Shingle Creek and around the fishing attractors in Gobblets Cove and off Lanier Point, and the marker near Browns Point . . .